Amalgamator



(No Model.)

W. WRIGHT. AMALGAMATOR.

No. 581,643. Patented Apr. 27, 1897.

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VILLIAM IVRIGIIT, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTRO MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF VEST VIRGINIA.

AMALGAIVIATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581 ,643, dated April 27, 1897.

Application filed June 12; 1896 Serial NO. 595,283- (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ILLIAM \VRIGHT, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Amalgamators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Myinvention relates to an improvement in amalgamators in which electricity is employed as a factor; and the object of the invention is to provide an amalgamator of this type of exceedingly simple, durable, and economic construction and which will be effective in operation, and, furthermore, to provide means for electrically controlling the deposit-surfaces of the amalgamator and to provide a means whereby the current may be reversed to reverse the action of the machine in order to effect a release of the material from its receiving-surfaces when required.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through the improved amalgamator. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the agitator used in connection with the machine, and Fig. 4L is a longitudinal section through one of the water-distributing pipes adapted to be located over the amalgamating-plate of the machine.

In carrying out the invention a receptacle A, of wood or other non-conducting material, is mounted upon suitable supports B, and in the bottom of the said receptacle a copper pan 10 is snugly fitted, the said pan having its inner face amalgamated, and the bindingpost 11, connected with the said pan, is made to extend outward through the bottom of the aforesaid receptacle. A cross-bar 12 is preferably placed over the top of the receptacle, and a second cross-bar13 is located within the receptacle, these cross-bars serving as bearings for a shaft 14, located centrally within the aforesaid receptacle, and the shaft turns loosely yet in close engagement with a collar 15, usually placed on top of the upper cross-bar 12, and a binding-post 16 is connected with the aforesaid collar. The shaft is provided with a pulley in order that it may be revolved by connection with any suitable motor.

The shaft 11 carries an agitator, and said agitator consists of a disk 17 which may be of metal or of any suitable material, and from the u nder face of the said disk a number of carbon points 18 are downwardly projected, and these points revolve within the pan 10. The points are made of carbon in order that the salt Water adapted to be contained in the receptacle A and electrolyzed shall not injure said points, since if the said points were made of metal they would very speedily corrode or waste away.

The pulverized material to be amalgamated, mixed with salt water to about the consistency of paste, enters the receptacle A of the machine through a hopper or pipe 16, as shown in Figs. 1 and A trough 0, having a downwardinclination, rests at one end ordinarily upon the support 13 of the receptacle A at a point below the latter, and at its opposite or delivery end suitable supports B are provided. This chute 0r trough O consists of a copper plate 10, having its upper face amalgamated or similarly treated to cause gold to adhere thereto, and the said copper plate is turned up at each side to form flanges 20.

IVater distributing tubes 21, preferably made of metal, are passed transversely over the amalgamating-plate through one or both flanges thereof, the pipes being insulated from the said flanges, and all of the waterdistributing pipes 21, which are placed ordinarily in close order, the series extending from one end of the chute to the other, are connected at one side of the said chute to a line-pipe 22. The line-pipe is closed at both ends, and the water-distributing pipes are closed at their free ends. The line-pipe 22 is connected usually at its forward or upper end with a supply-pipe 23, adapted to supply salt Water to the distributing-pipes.

Aseries of openings is made in the bottom of each distributing pipe throughout the width of the chute, and a carbon nipple 21 is introduced in each of these openings. The carbon is employed in order that the nipples shall not be affected by the constant discharge of the chlorin solution produced by the passage of the electric current through the salt water. An overflow-pipe 28 enters the receptacle A at a given point near the top and extends downward to about the central portion of the upper end of the chute.

A generator of electricityD is placed in any suitable quarter, and from the said generator the usual positive and negative wires 24 and 25 are carried. A line-wire 25 is connected with the bindin g-post 16, communicating with the agitator-shaft 14, and the said line-wire 25 is carried in the direction of the generator and terminates adjacent to the wires of the latter in two points 25 and 25 as shown in Fig. 2. A second line-wire 26 is connected with the binding-post 11, extending from the pan in the receptacle, and this wire is made to connect with a binding-post 27, located on the line-pipe 22, carrying the distributingpipes. The continuation of the line-wire 26 is in the nature of a second wire 28, which is connected with a binding-post 29 in communication with the amalgamating-plate of the trough O, and this branch wire 28 is carried in the direction of the generator of electricity to a position near the wires leading therefrom and terminates in two points 28 and 28 Between the terminals of the positive and negative wires of the generator of electricity and the terminal points of theline-wires of the machine a switch E is placed. This switch may be of any approved construction, and ordinarily consists of two transfer-arms 29 and 29, one being pivotally attached to each terminal of the wires leading from the electric generator, and the terminal points of the line-wire are in such position that when these transfer-arms are shifted they may be made to engage with any set of line-wire terminal points. The transfer-arms are conn ected ordinarily by a link 30, and the said link is given lateral movement by a shifting lever 31.

In operation the ore in its plastic state is kept constantly agitated in the receptacle A, and the plastic material, as it reaches the inlet of the overflow-pipe 23, will flow down upon the amalgamating-plate of the chute C, and as the material passes over this amalgamating-plate it is constantly washed by the electrolyzed water from the distributingpipes 21, leaving the deposit of gold on the aforesaid amalgamating-plate. The circuit is shown in the drawings as the normal one, and the electricity is carried through the agitator-shaft 14 into the body of the material in the receptacle to the pan at the bottom, thence out along the wire 26 to the line-pipe 22, and then through the Water in the various distributing-pipes 21 to the amalgamating plate of the chute. In the event that the amalgamating-surface should become clogged the current is reversed in order to loosen the sediment and provide at all times for a clean surface to which the gold shall adhere.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In an amalgamator, an amalgamatingplate over which the material is adapted to pass, water-distributing tubes arranged to discharge water over the receiving-surface of the plate, the said tubes being provided with carbon outlets, a source of electricity, a circuit leading therefrom and comprising said plate and tubes, and mechanism for changing the direction of the current, as and for the purpose specified.

2. In an amalgamator, an agitating-receptacle, an amalgamating-plate, the receptacle being arranged to discharge its contents upon the said plate, water-discharging tubes having their outlets over the receiving-surface of the plate, a source of electricity, a circuit leading therefrom, comprising the agitator, the plate and the tubes, and a mechanism for changing the direction of the current, substantially as described.

In an amalgamator subject to currents of electricity, an agitating-receptacle, an amalgam ating-plate on which the contents are discharged from said receptacle, and water-supply pipes provided with carbon outlets arranged over the receiving-surface of said amalgamating plate, the said currents of electricity passing through the said agitator, the amalgamatin g-plate and the water-supply pipes, substantially as described.

4. In an amalgamator, a receptacle for the material provided with an amalgamating-pan in its bottom, an agitator mounted to revolve in said receptacle, an amalgamating-plate arranged to receive the material from the said receptacle, water-supply pipes arranged over the receiving-surface of said amalgamatingplate, a source of electricity, a circuit leading therefrom and comprising the agitator, the amalgamating-plate and the water-supply pipes and mechanism for reversing the direc tion of the current,substantially as described.

5. In an amalgamator, an agitating-receptacle for the material, an agitator mounted to revolve in said receptacle, an am algamatingplate, a discharge-pipe leading from the upper part of said receptacle to the said amalgamating-plate, a line-pipe arranged at one side of the amalgamatingplate and connected with a supply-pipe, a series of water-distributing pipes connected with the line-pipe and extending transversely over the amalgamating-plate, a source of electricity, a circuit leading therefrom and comprising the agitator, the amalgamating-plate and the Waterdistributing pipes, and a mechanism for changing the direction of the current, substantially as described.

IVILLIAM IVRIGIIT.

Witnesses:

J. FRED. AOKER, J NO. M. BITTER. 

